Knitting machine



Sept 24, 1935. E. TITHER KNITTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 28, 1934 25 7 X M15 4 h INVEN TOR.

l Patented Sep 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNITTING MACHINE ErnestTither, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to The I Vogue Silk Hosiery Co.,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December28, 1934, Serial No. 759,477 2 1 Claim.

This invention relates to yarn sinking instrumentalities for knittingmachines, particularly fiatknitting machines of the cotton type such asare commonly used in the manufacture of full 5 fashioned stockings andthe like.

In fiat knitting machines of the specific kind referred to, the sinkersare advanced progressively through the medium of actuating jacksimpelled by a slur cock, to sink the yarn laid into the notches of thesinkers betweenthe knitting needles; the kinks in the yarn thus formedaround the needle shanks being subsequently robbed by concerted advanceof dividers intervening the sinkers in the sinker head. At these times,the sinkers are free for capacity to yield to the ac tion of the yarn sothat the lateral robbing may take place between the previously measuredyarn kinks. If, incident to this robbing action, one or more of thesinkers should become disaligned with relation to the others of theseries, it or they will prevent the catch bar from retracting thesinkers preparatory to the traverse of the yarn carrier finger for thepurpose of laying yarn for a succeeding fabric course, and thus cause asmash, with attendant bending or nicking of the sinkers, as well aspossible damage to the needles and the sinker head, which, forcorrection, entails a very considerable outlay for new parts and theidling of the machine while repairs and replacements are being made.

My invention is directed toward obviating the contingencies such asabove pointed out, which desideratum I attain as hereinafter more fullyexplained, by providing recesses in the top edges 35 of the sinkersadjacent the top nibs of their yarn sinking ends, so that, in the eventthat the sinkers are not retracted by the catch bar of the knittingmachine, the yarn carrier may pass over them without contact.

In the drawing, Fig. I shows in cross section, a sufl'icient portion ofa flat knitting machine of the cotton type to illustrate the operationof my improved sinkers.

Fig. II is a similar view with a sinker in an abnormal position; and

Fig. III is a perspective view of one of my novel sinkers.

Fig. IV represents a fragmentary perspective view of the knittingapparatus embodying the 50 present invention.

Fig. V represents a fragmentary top plan-view of sinkers, dividers andneedles as embodying the present invention.

Referring first to Fig. III of these illustrations, it will be observedthat my new sinker comprehensively designated by the numeral 5 isgenerally speaking of conventional design and construction, with ahorizontally elongate parallel edged main or body portion 6 of thinsteel having 50 at its frontal or yarn sinking end, an angular notch '1between upper and lower nibs 8 and 9. At the rear or butt end |0, thesinker 5 is strengthened and thickened by\ a permanently attachedreinforcement also fashioned from sheet metal. It will be further notedfrom Fig. 111 5 that the sinker 5 is distinguished from ordinary sinkersnow generally usedby virtue of having a recess II in the top edge of itsmain or body portion 6 immediately inward of the upper front point ornib 8.

Sinkers made in accordance with my invention can thus be substituted forordinary sinkers in flat knitting machines of the cotton type such asdelineated fragmentarily in Figs. 1, II, IV and V wherein l2 designatesthe transversely grooved 15 bottom rail of the sinker head; l3, thecorrespondingly grooved sinker head cap bar; It, the associated vergeplate; l5, one of the pivoted sinker a'dvancing jacks; lithe-catch barfor retracting the sinkers; l1, one of the knitting 20 needles; l8,the'yarn'carrier-fingers of the machine whereof the thread eye l9extends down to a level below the top edge of the sinkers as required tolay the yarn 20 into the angular notches 1; 2|, the dividers whichalternate withthe 5 sinkers 5; and 22, the upright catch-bar-engagedrear-portion of the dividers.

As a characteristic of the flat types of fullfashioned knitting machinesin general use at the present time, the sinkers advance in succes- 30sion or progressively as the yarn carrier finger I8 is movedlongitudinally .of the sinker head; the successive or progressiveadvancement of the sinkers lagging behind the traverse of the yarncarrier finger to any suitable extent so that the yarn carrier finger l8leads the progressive advancement of the successive fingers by asuitable margin throughout traverse of the yarn carrier, exceptpossibly" when the yarn carrier reaches the limit of its movement whenthe lead v of the yarn carrier diminishes to a minimum for the formationof the desired selvage. The sinkers are caused to advance in thisprogressive l fashion (one after the other, but always lagging behindthe yarn carrier) through actuation of a slur cock (not illustrated),and the effect of such progressive advancement of the sinkers is to send(or to sink) the yarn paid out by the yarn finger l8 (by engagement withthe angular notch 1), into the alternate spaces between the needles|1,'as indicated in Figs. IV and V, thereby forming kinks embracingadjacent pairs of needles.

When the yarn carrier l8 has reached its limit. of travel, that is,approximately when the last 5 of the sinkershas been advanced .by thetraverse of the slur cock, the series of dividers 2| are advancedsimultaneously by means of the catch-bar I6, in the direction of thearrow 24, which catchbar remains in engagement with the upright butts 22of the dividers 2| through all phases of the knitting cycle. Thesimultaneously advanced dividers 21 enter the other series of alternatespaces between the needles H, which were not theretofore entered by thesinkers 5, thereby laterally to rob the previously measured dents in theyarn and to divide the previously formed kinks so that instead of eachtwo adjacent needles being embraced by one relatively long yarn loop orkink, each needle then becomes embraced individually by a shorter yarnloop or kink.

In the normal progress of the knitting cycle the full course of newstitches or new loops is then formed by the simultaneous lowering of theneedles (by means not shown) Thereupon, the catch-bar IS in itsgenerally advanced position shown inFig. II is lowered downwardly asmall extent until the catch channel or catch-groove 25 thereof comesdown over the somewhat lower ends or terminals of the upright butts H!of the sinkers, thereby to engage the same, and is then retractedquickly in the direction of the arrow 26 to its rearmost or retractedposition;carrying with it the permanently engaged dividers andtemporarily engaged sinkers. Thereupon, the catch-bar I0 is again raisedto its upper position, indicated in Fig. I, wherein the sinkers becomedisengaged from the catch-bar, while the dividers still remain engaged.The sinkers are then again advanced progressively for the initialsinking of the yarn for the next course of loops.

Upon the passage of the slur cock (which progressively advances thesinkers independently of the catch-bar) the sinkers are left free torecede slightly when the previously measured dents of yarn are robbed ordivided laterally by the simultaneous advance of the dividers.

It sometimes happens that as a result of such slight recession of thesinkers, as just explained, or as a result of some other slightinequalities in tension or momentum or rebound, or other slightirregularities, one or several of the sinkers become slightly misalignedwith respect to the others so that the catch-bar I6 is stopped in itsdownward engaging movement by the butts of the misaligned sinkers whichfail to enter the groove or channel 25, as indicated in Figure II,

' and the catch-bar is hence prevented from catching any of the sinkerbutts I0 so that the sinkers remain in their advanced position insteadof of the needles, as well as bending of the slot walls of the sinkerhead cap bar which is usually made of brass or other relatively softmetal. A smash of this sort invariably entails complete replacement ofthe sinkers and the sinker head cap bar, since to accurately restore thesinkers to their original shape is a practical impossibility and at bestresults in the production by the machine of streaky fabric. The dents inthe upper edges of the sinkers resulting from the smash, even thoughslight, would on the other hand, if the damaged sinkers were retained,cause rapid wear of the guide slots in the sinker head cap bar.

Through my invention contingencies of the sort described are absolutelyprecluded, because in the event of non-retraction of the sinkers 5 bythe catch bar 16, the notches H provide a clearance through the lengthof the series of sinkers for free and unobstructed passage of the yarnguide finger I8 in a manner which will be readily apparent from Figs, IIand IV without the necessity for further description.

It will be understood that the present invention may be embodied inother specific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialattributes thereof, and it is desired that the present embodiment beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive,reference being had to the appended claim rather than to the foregoingdescription or indicate the scope of the invention. Thus, for instance,the shape of the recesses or notches ll may be altered, as for ex- 9ample by inclining the bottom of the recess 01 notch upwardly in aforward direction so that by a more or less gradual incline, the bottomof the recess will meet the very front tip of the nib 8 instead ofcoming up sharply a slight distance behind the tip.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a flat knitting machine, the combination of a bank of uprightspring-beard needles arranged in rectilinear alignment with each other,and uniformly spaced with respect to each other, and adapted forvertical reciprocation in unison with each other, a thread carrieradapted for traversing longitudinally of the bank of needles, with itsthread-discharge point at a fixed height, and to discharge thread acrossthe front of said needles at a fixed height or level, corresponding tothe height or level of the discharge point of the thread carrier, a bankof forming-sinkers and a bank of dividers arranged for horizontalsliding movement transversely of the needle bank, with theforming-sinkers and dividers being aligned with the alternate spacesbetween adjacent needles, means for advancing the formingsinkers insuccession in a position slightly lagging after the thread carrier,while the dividers are retracted in an inoperative position, and acatch-bar for advancing the dividers simulta' neously after all theforming-sinkers have been advanced, and for retracting the dividerssimultaneously, said catch-bar being in constant engagement with thedividers and being adapted to engage the forming-sinkers in itsoutermost or advanced position, and to retract said forming-sinkers inunison with each other and si- -multaneousl v with the retraction of thedividers,

and to release or disengage the forming-sinkers in its retractedposition;the upper nibs of the forming-sinkers being above the dischargeend of the thread carrier and said forming-sinkers having recesses intheir upper edges immediately adjacent the upper nibs in their sinkingends, with the bottom of the recess below the level of thethread-discharge point of the thread carrier, thereby to permit the freeand uninterfered traverse of the thread carrier in both the advancedposition of the forming-sinkers as well as in'the retracted position ofthe forming sink-

